Remarketing

Used Fleet Vehicle Values Increase 1.5% in August

Vehicles from fleet consignors increased 1.5% in value in August compared to July.

Screenshot via KAR Auction Services.

The average value of used fleet vehicles increased 1.5% in August from the prior month and are now up 8.5% from a year ago, according to Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

Fleet lease vehicles were below used vehicles from manufacturers, which increased 3.2% on the month, but are up only 2% from a year ago. Vehicles from dealer consignors increased 1.9% from July and are up 0.6% from August 2017.

Overall wholesale values increased 1.4% to $11,049 and were up 0.9% on the year. Used cars were up 2.2% for the month, while truck values increased 1%, which indicates a "better supply-demand balance," Kontos said.

From a year ago, segments that typically have fleet vehicles, including midsize cars and midsize SUVs increased 7% to $12,460 and 5.6% to $20,932 respectively.

Prior to 2018, sedans at auction had experienced three years of consecutive value declines. For sedan-heavy fleets, this may have meant an impact to total cost of ownership for those vehicles, as profits from remarketing them would have suffered. Now companies with sedan-heavy fleets may be finding that a window of opportunity to remarket those vehicles for better profit has emerged.

Vehicles from fleet consignors followed the broader used-vehicle market downward in September, as wholesale prices struggled to keep up with last year's hurricane-driven demand and a now robust upstream market, said Tom Kontos, KAR Auction Services' chief economist.

Six pickup trucks made the top-10 list of vehicles that retain the highest percentage of their value after a five-year ownership period, along with two Jeeps, a Subaru, and the Toyota 4Runner. At the other end of the spectrum, the Nissan Leaf saw the highest depreciation over the same period.